A Deeper Salvation

     Sunday our pastor, Gary Hargrave,  talked to us about salvation. Well,  it was an expanded explanation of salvation.  He read from Romans 8 and discussed the ministry of condemnation that belongs, not to the saints but to Satan. You can only truly minister what you are. Satan is a liar and an accuser (Rev.12:10). He tries to pass on to us his judgment by getting us to believe his lies. These would not be lies if it weren't for the fact that Christ delivered us. Our salvation involves the transferring of our sin to Christ who bore all our sins, even before we were born! (2 Cor.5:21).

Self-Condemnation (that's me in the blue)

       One aspect that is very important about our salvation, our pastor reminded us, is about condemnation. Paul tells us therefore there is NOW no condemnation (Ro.8:1) for those in Christ Jesus. I am glad he pointed that out because I can get condemned about a lot of things. I can get condemned over forgetting what a great salvation we have.  Because if you are like me, sometimes I forget about that wonder and power of what Christ did on the cross. He did it for the whole world and just as important He did it for me (after all it really is about me:). What an awesome fact that we all who have experienced this salvation never get tired of hearing and  being reminded about its wonder and transport.  Satan would love for us to forget about that and accept his condemnation.
        The other day we had our grandson over for lunch and swimming. His parents came too. After swimming my wife played dominoes with little Joshie. The game  turned into setting up winding rows of dominoes and then watching them knock each other down. That is always fun! (A secret is when you get a big long row set up take two or three out of different places so if an anxious little boy gets clumsy it won't knock down the whole bunch.) But condemnation works likes those dominoes for me. If I am feeling condemned then in my mind I start passing it along from one thing to another until all my love dominoes are down. It can even spill over onto my family. How I feel about myself colors how I see and feel about others. If I am believing God's love for me, I am in love with the world. But if I feel condemned, therefore not believing God's love,  then I often become critical of others. Condemnation can begin with the slightest nudge and end up affecting us and our loved ones right down the line. Sin is transferrable.
       The great news is that salvation and righteousness is transferrable too.  That is what Christ did on the cross.  It is a spiritual principle. It makes the Cross work for us. Our sin was transferred to Christ.
        Satan knows this spiritual principle. He uses it to escape his judgment. Gary pointed out that he, the  "accuser of the brethern"(KJV), uses this principle to pass on unbelief and judgment onto us. This is where the condemnation starts. This is known as spiritual warfare. Wow! By the way, the Greek word for condemnation is kata◊krima. If you look closely at the word it contains two Greek words. kata which means "according to" and  krinvw which means judgment. Put them together and we get "according to judgment".  So when we are feeling condemned we are feeling the judgment according to God, but for whom? Are we under judgment?
        If we believe in Christ we are not under condemnation (judgment), so it can't be ours. Who is under Judgment?  It is Old spilt hoof.
       I took a moment to re-read John 3:16-19. That beautiful passage is about God's love and our salvation. But it is also about condemnation. "God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved! He that believes not is condemned already..."(3:18 KJV).
      Probably the thing that hit me the hardest is the point our pastor made about not believing in Jesus at any point is denying the blood and sacrifice of Christ. Now don't get condemned. But that is the point, we do receive condemnation. Who can deliver us from this revolting development? This is the exact spot that brought Paul in Romans 7:25 to exclaim "Thanks be to God"(NIV).

       So when that overpowering evidence of my failure is pointed out so distinctly to me by myself, anyone else or the main player, Satan, I can reject it as not belonging to me. What about all that failure? It belongs to Christ and his blood. I am free.  Thanks be to God. I do not have to play the cards dealt to me. I am not stuck with the hand the house (this world) has given me. Christ has set me free from sin and death! It's all Aces baby, read them and rejoice.
For a better interpretation of this sermon listen to the original, yourself! Salvation, Condemnation and Spiritual Warfare.